Of AlcoholInduced Mistakes and Consequences
by Glowing Green Turtle
Summary: "Muted gasps spill from her lips as Kaldur suckles on the pulse point at her throat, and she knows they shouldn't be doing this." Hard T. AU-ish
1. Chapter 1

**Of Alcohol Induced Mistakes and Consequences**

_Muted gasps spill from her lips as Kaldur suckles on the pulse point at her throat, and she _knows _they shouldn't be doing this – not because she fears her brother, god no. It's because this is __**Kaldur **__and Kaldur is who he is, and he's her brother's __**best friend **__and he'll end up feeling really guilty (because he's __**Kaldur **__and Kaldur doesn't lie, not to his best friend) and he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from her brother very long (because they're like __**brothers **__and neither can keep secrets from the other very well)._

_He pulls her – somehow being rough and gentle at the same time – into the room (the __**hotel room**__ that she's still not sure why they have), helping her quickly shed her clothes, she making close progress with his own attire._

_Hands are going everywhere, lips trailing across hot, sweaty, salty skin, and neither person wants this to end . . ._

**-O-**

_Ow._

Abruptly opening his eyes proved to be a mistake.

Sunlight filtered in through the curtains and bounced off the floor. Kaldur opened his eyes again – slowly. He felt warm. Warmer than normal. And by 'normal', the author means 'by-himself-in-an-otherwise-empty-bedroom'.

There was . . . . something pressed against his chest. Tightly. The same thing that was giving off that delicious warmth. Something that seemed to be streamlining along the shape of his body. It was quite comfortable. Kaldur began to settle back down into sleepiness, in an attempt to lull the just-recognised-as-a-hangover back into a state of not-so-painful-ness, as he had no problem with strange appearances of a comforting warmth while he had such a pounding head.

Until . . . until there was – what was _quite_ unmistakable as – a sleepy sigh. That wasn't Kaldur's. That wasn't Kaldur's at _all_. His eyes snapped open, and his head shifted **s l o w l y **to face the something pressed against his front.

Gold.

Gold strands were the first thing that registered. The second thing that registered was the strand's almost obscenely long length. The locks of hair – for that is what they were – spilled across soft, olive skin. Skin that was vaguely coming across as familiar, somewhere in the pools of Kaldur's pounding head.

As gently and slowly as he could, Kaldur lifted his upper half from the mattress, and silently gazed down on the face of the girl that, judging by the aching limbs and overall _nakedness_, he had bedded. Even though he could only see the girl's side profile, he knew who she was.

Peach-coloured full lips, a gently-sloping nose, angular jaw . . . . they were the features that belonged to a girl he'd known for years – and suddenly, Kaldur felt his heart begin to beat against his ribcage at a hundred miles per hour.

Because, yes, he had certainly known this **one girl **for years . . . . about as long as he'd known her brother. Her brother Roy, whom he'd known from childhood. Roy, who, Kaldur had witnessed first-hand, was _incredibly _protective of his younger sister Artemis . . . . who just so happened to be the same girl lying in bed next to him. Well, _shit_.

**-O-**

What had been done?

What had happened?

How had they gotten to THAT position anyway?

These were a few of the few questions that were circling Kaldur not-so-groggy-all-of-a-sudden head. Carefully peeling the thin sheets away from his body, Kaldur slowly began to shift away from (and the author must reiterate) his best friend's younger sister.

Artemis groaned softly and shifted her limbs around slightly, gently brushing her foot against Kaldur's leg, before becoming peaceful and silent once again. Sitting up as slowly as he possibly could, Kaldur managed to slip out of bed without waking the slumbering girl.

Standing up gave his hangover an excuse to come back in full swing, causing Kaldur to wince. Gingerly opening his eyes again, Kaldur looked around, trying to recognise his location.

It appeared to be a hotel room (because that is _such_ a comforting revelation).

Mostly white – which didn't help the pain in Kaldur's eyes any – and pale-cream in colour, from the walls to the floor to the curtains and chairs. Everything was light in colour. The only thing causing any contrast was the splotches of darkness caused by, what Kaldur assumed to be, the strewn clothes that he and his . . . _sleeping partner _had shed. Kaldur closed his eyes.

'Mmhm.'

His eyes snapped open again. His eyes the size of dinner plates, Kaldur turned his gaze to the bed. Artemis was furrowing her eyebrows, jostling her limbs. The rather tell-tale signs of a person who is about to _wake up_.

**-O-**

There was something about the current circumstances of her body that felt unfamiliar.

Groaning into the air, Artemis jerked her head off the _so soft _pillow, blearily opening her eyes. This wasn't her room. This wasn't her bed. And she felt like something was watching her back.

Rolling on her back to her other side, taking care to keep her bare chest (nakedness in a strange bed. Not a good sign.) covered , she looked over to see what was watching her.

It was Kaldur.

A very, very naked Kaldur.

A very naked Kaldur, as in Kaldur, her big brother's best friend.

_Not at ALL _what she was expecting.

Another thing she wasn't expecting, aside from a) being naked in a hotel room with a pounding hangover, b) waking up to find the guy she slept with was _her brother's best friend_ (because the author really, CANNOT stress that enough), and c) the fact that she slept with Kaldur _at all_ (wouldn't he have stopped her before anything happened?), was the fact that he was staring at her with an expression reminiscent of a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck. He almost looked like he was frozen. Like a statue.

Not that she could really blame him. Even though her groggy mind was still connecting a few dots, the general alarm going off in her head was that she _really wasn't supposed – or shouldn't – be here. _In this position. With **Kaldur**. Who was still staring at her like he was seeing a ghost.

Cue panic attack.

"K . . . . . Kaldur . . . uhh."

Very eloquent.

But apparently eloquent enough – Kaldur seemed to have been snapped out of his trance. Blinking rapidly and, apparently realizing their state of dress, blushing tomato red on both cheeks, he flopped himself into sitting on the very edge of the bed. Of course, Artemis couldn't comment on the general awkwardness – she was blushing red too.

Neither person seemed to want to stay still very long. Kaldur silently gathered the clothes that were on the floor, leaving hers on the bed edge, before blushingly – but rather calmly, given the circumstances – walking into the adjacent bathroom.

**-O-**

This had to be the most embarrassing situation any teenagers could have ever been in.

Kaldur could feel Artemis' eyes follow him as he walked in to the bathroom, and he was blushing furiously as he closed to door.

As he dressed, he mulled his thoughts over, hangover be dammed. _What was he going to do?_ Obviously, Priority A was to rectify the massive mistake that was his and Artemis' drunken night playing tonsil-and-pelvis hocky.

God, that sounded so wrong.

His memory was, apparently, rather patchy, but he could remember what had happened the day before, specifically, what could've led to the consumption of alcohol and the . . . later activities.

It had been mostly just a night of celebration with friends - the winning of the football championship for their school – at a party being held by a classmate whose parents were out of the city for the week. He had been there with friends. Dick, Wally, Conner, Megan, Roy . . . . what had happened? Had the group spilt when the party ended? Did the others know what had happened between himself and Artemis? (Please, dear God, no.)

Glancing into the bedroom mirror, Kaldur distinctly noticed a colour that seemed . . . slightly off, against his chocolate-coloured skin. Reaching up to brush back the edge of his shirt, his eyes widened (for the third time, the author might add), when he saw small, mouth-sized bruises dusting his shoulder.

Quickly checking his other shoulder – how many were there? – Kaldur gingerly brushed his fingers over the discoloured flesh, feeling the distinct stinging of bruises.

_Knock knock_.

"Um . . . Kaldur," it was Artemis' voice.

"Yes?"

"You might wanna come out here."

Kaldur did as told, and was thankful to see that Artemis was dressed, but looking rather scared and alarmed. She was holding his phone.

"You just received a text . . . . from my brother."

Gently grabbing the hand that was holding his phone, Kaldur looked down at the ominous message.

_**Kaldur, do u know where my sister is? I know she left the party, but I don't know where she went after that. If you find her, call me. – Roy.**_

**-O-**

_I hoped you liked the first chapter._

_In case you couldn't tell, this is rather AU-ish story. For a quick recap, Roy and Kal have been friends for years, and Artemis, as Roy's adoptive sister, has known them both for the same time length._

_Kaldur lives with HIS adoptive parents, Mera and Orin, who have a biological child of their own. Artie and Roy live with Ollie and Dinah, who took them both in at young ages._

_I hope it seemed mostly in-character. _

_Any and all reviews are apprieciated._


	2. Chapter 2

The apartment door squeaked as she swung it in, and Artemis cringed. Her dad had the ears of a fox. He could hear someone opening a door from across the house.

"Artie?"

Oh. It was just her mother, Dinah. Although both Artemis and Roy were adopted, they also looked so much like Dinah and their father, Oliver (Ollie), it was easy to believe that they were a family. Roy was tall, like Ollie, with ginger hair, tanned skin, a really short temper, an overprotective streak a mile wide (mostly when it came to Artemis, because she was two years younger, so since he was about ten or eleven, he became all if-you-do-anything-to-hurt-my-sister blah blah blah), and pair biceps of almost the size of grapefruits, with really broad shoulders, to back up his temper and tendency to pick fights. He and Kaldur were to classic 'quiet guy/tough guy' duo. They were also both seniors in high school, and Roy actually had a group of girls who had _literally _labelled themselves the 'Roy Harper Fan Club', who mostly seemed to be giggly blondes whose favourite topics to discuss were his 'chiselled face' or his 'washboard abs'.

Ollie (Dad), was the CEO of Queen Enterprises. A former 'playboy billionaire', he was well sought-after by the stereotypical gold-digging single women, even after his marriage to psychologist Dinah Lance (Mom).

Dinah was rather well-known in her field, with a PhD in Psychology, a Masters in something else, and a whole bunch of other impressive degrees. Her marriage to the 'stunningly handsome' Oliver Queen was all over the tabloids, as 'Mr Queen is a well-known heartbreaker' (meaning that he would have a new girlfriend every few weeks) and 'Dr Lance is fond of being in relationships with people of PhDs' (A polite way of saying that Ollie Queen 'might not be intelligent enough' for Dinah).

What drew even more attention was the (firstly secret, but paparazzi are stalkers) decision to adopt – first Roy Harper, an orphan from a small town near Star City, then Artemis Crock, whose mother had died as a result of working in an area of Gotham City that was surrounded by gang warfare; while Artemis was at daycare.

After the adoptions, the Queen-Lance brood stayed out of the public eye (with the exceptions of award ceremonies (for leaps in psychology or robotic science or whatever) that they were required to go to – Artemis hated Q.E. publicists).

Roy and Ollie were both very protective of Artemis, who, from her adoption, had been, more or less, the family's princess (even though her attitude was closer to tomboy. Or ladette).

When Artemis was thirteen, she had been telling Dinah about this really cute boy in her class (just because she was a tomboy didn't mean she couldn't be attracted to boys), Jake Williams, and Ollie had overheard. Any random passer-by would've thought he was her angry dad who had caught her doing crack, or something. And the author refuses to touch what he did to Andy Douglas when he came to pick her up for her _very first date!_

So, to say that she was worried about what he would say, or do, to Kaldur (who, as stated before, was her _older brother's best friend!_) for being the first Artemis had ever had _sex_ with, would be a massive understatement. Of course, she was even **more **worried about what ROY would do to Kal. Roy was, really, the type of brother who would happily ignore his sister at school, but would be the first to break the nose of a guy who made her cry, or at least (since Artemis wasn't a crier) hurt her feelings – like when she found out her boyfriend of two months, Ryan Pruitt, had been two-timing her. But he and Kaldur had been best friends since primary school. Artemis couldn't recall how exactly it happened – a red-haired guy with temper issues, and a dark-skinned, quiet, living embodiment of the classical Prince Charming.

"Artemis?"

The sound of her mother's voice jerked Artemis out of her reverie.

"Oh . . . hi, Mom."

(Way to sound completely innocent , Queen. Nothing remotely suspicious-sounding about that.)

Dinah began to walk towards her.

"Artie, where were you? Roy came home from that party you and your friends were at, and he said you would be home later."

"Uhh – yeah! I spent the night a Megan's. I didn't have enough money to get a cab home, so she let me stay the night."

Dinah raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment on what was a rather blatant and obvious lie.

(And besides, with most teenagers, there are some things that they do that a parent just does NOT want to know about).

**-O-**

On the flip side, Kaldur's attempt to sneak into _his_ home was much easier: he didn't have to try. As both his parents had to leave town for the weekend, Kaldur had the house to himself.

As the only things Kaldur had with himself were clothes and shoes (which he shed in the hallway), Kaldur decided to save time and energy, rather than slog himself to his bedroom, he flung himself heavily onto a couch. Which didn't serve to help his (moderately less painful than earlier) migraine.

As he lay there, Kaldur's sluggish brain was _finally_ sending out messages of panic about the 'new development', which the rest of him was trying to ignore, as well as the mental images of what his friend (again, who was Artemis' _BROTHER_ (because the author really **cannot** stress that enough) was going to do to him if – when – he found out. Because he _was_ going to find out. Kaldur had always had difficulty keeping secrets from Roy. His parents too, for that matter.

Of course, Kaldur did have a few thoughts that Roy didn't know about – sometimes, Roy wouldn't pry. But in a case like this, with how bad the repercussions could be, Kaldur knew that, if Roy asked, Kaldur would tell, because he just couldn't keep a guilty conscience. Not for long.

But really, Kaldur couldn't help but ask himself, why was this such a problem?

So, he and Artemis had sex. At some point, everyone does. More often than not, with alcohol in their systems. And they would later regret it. Fact of life.

But . . . this situation seemed to feel more dire, due to their relationship with a third party (the aforementioned overprotective brother/best friend), their age gap (she was just over sixteen, he was close to eighteen – a big difference in high school), that they had both consumed alcohol whilst underage, etc.

Casting his memory back to the morning, Kaldur thought of the hotel room they had woken up in. When did they get a hotel room? How had it been paid for – he and Artemis had been allowed to just walk out the front door. Who knew they had been there?

Kaldur felt torn – half of him wanted to know what had happened, the other half just wanted to forget.

**-O-**

_I'm sorry for the delay for Chapter 2, I want to just say right now that it was REALLY FREAKING HARD TO WRITE. I hadn't meant for this to be a chapter story, so maybe that's why._

_Notes: That little bit in Kaldur's part, yeah, that was me trying to justify my characters actions. _

_And I just can't drop the emphasis on Roy, Artie's over-protective big brother. So it'll probably pop up a few more times._

_I love reviews. Reviews make me smile and want to write faster._


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